Saturday, February 24, 2018

In this episode we are fortunate to be joined by Jeff Zoul and Anthony McConnell, the authors of the hot new book, The Principled Principal: 10 Principles for Leading Exceptional Schools.The Principled Principal examines ten guiding principles, using stories and real-life examples to make them relevant and applicable for every school leader.You’ll learn . . .What to prioritize and what to eliminate from your to-do listHow to empower your staff and studentsHow to hire the right people for your schoolWhy and how to keep calm in a crisisHow to recognize and avoid “culture crushers”How to create a positive culture for your school communityImplement the strategies and practices in The Principled Principal, and fast-track your way to becoming the leader your school needs.The list of what you'll learn goes on, along with stories from practicing principals in each chapter.

We know you'll enjoy listening to Jeff and Anthony chat about their book just as much as we did! Want to tweet about the book? Use the hashtag #10Principles to join in the conversation with others.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

In this episode, we are joined by Justin Ashley, author of The Balanced Teacher Path. In addition to being a published author, Justin is a teacher, work-life balance coach, and motivational speaker from Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the only teacher to ever win 2 state titles--the North Carolina History Teacher of the Year and North Carolina Social Studies Teacher of the Year--in the same year.

We discovered Justin Ashley in this article: He was a classroom star. But CMS teacher’s success masked depression, addiction and just knew we had to have him join us on the podcast to help us learn from his journey and be able to support our teachers to prevent them from burnout. If you’re ready to inject more joy into your personal life, get more meaning from your job, strengthen your body and mind, and break free financially then you will want to listen to him on the podcast and read his book!

Throughout the podcast, Justin shares many pearls of wisdom for our listeners. In order to live the balanced teacher life, Justin recommends 30 minutes of exercise a day, something awesome in every class that students will talk about (purple cow!), and most importantly... family time.

We spent quite a bit of time talking about the email beast. Theresa shared email tips Boomerang and Astro, and Unroll to tame the subscription emails you receive. Theresa mentions the following studies to give a reason for why you need to be efficient with your email:

We are excited about future podcasts to come: We are scheduled to have Justin Ashley, author of The Balanced Teacher to join us. When we read about him in this article: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article144336674.html, we just had to seek him out to join us. He went from Teacher of the year to Rehab. Please let us know if you have any questions you want us to ask him when he’s on the podcast.

Sunday, January 21, 2018

In this episode, Theresa and Spike discuss how 2018 is going while Jessica is Ice Fishing! As the discussion unfolds, Theresa talked about how she has been using the app Todoist. She uses Todoist to organize all of the tasks that she has to do throughout the week. Todoist connects with her gmail and allows her to schedule time to get the important things accomplished. Theresa also talked about she continues to use Evernote. She takes all her notes, articles, tasks, and documents and scans them to Evernote.

Spike shared how he stays organized throughout the day by using the SAMs Time Tracker System. This system, developed by former Principal Mark Shellinger, creates a calendar for Principals to track their time and work on improving their time spent with instruction.

Please share any apps/tips/tricks you use for staying organized. We'll be tackling email next, so share those things, too via twitter, email, or commenting on the blog post.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

In this episode, we chat with Lindsy Stumpenhorst, elementary principal in Illinois, also known as

“Principal in Boots.” Lindsy shares all about leading an amazing staff, living in the country, balance,

using social media, and her one word for 2018: Awe. Have you heard of Instagram? Spike and Lindsy

both work hard to convince Jessica to revitalize her Instagram account and connect where the action is.

Something interesting about Lindsy is her family was in Josh Turner’s music video for his song, Find

Me a Baby! Check it out here: Josh Turner (about 30 seconds in). Not only does Lindsy have horses, but

she also has dogs that size too (we got to see them while were recording, so couldn't help but ask for

photo evidence to share!

Spike discussed his use of the SAMs Time Tracker System for Principals. He is going to their National Conference in a few weeks. For more information the SAMs Time Tracker System, check out their website.

Sunday, January 7, 2018

In this episode, we warm up with hot coffee and blankets to stay warm in this frigid winter. Spike talks about the Bomb Cyclone in New Jersey, which caused his school to close for two days, we compared temperatures and talked about indoor recess/school closure decision making. A fun app share to enjoy your weather is: WTForecast - Caution, the profanity can be offensive in this app, but you can change the setting.

We also talked about what happens when staff have a countdown or stir up excitement for a snow day...what message does that send our students and families? Thank you Tom Murray for this tweet:

Spike talked about "One word 2018." Have you picked "One word?" Spike's is Gratitude, Theresa's is Aware, and finally Jessica agreed to one word… Balance

On a much more positive note we celebrated Adam Welcome, our crazy running principal friend, for completing 103 miles in 24 hours!

Jessica shared a discussion activity she used in a recent staff meeting with the purpose of building shared understanding and then brought up an issue that happens in staff meetings...do you have this issue?